The invention relates to a vehicle hood with a hinge with at least one hinge arm, one end of which is connected through a joint to the vehicle body and the other end is connected through a joint to the hood.
A known hinge for a hood is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,223,420, issued to Yukimoto et al. on Sep. 23, 1980. In this known hinge a first arm is connected to the hood and at its first end is connected in a joint to a first connecting link by means of a pin. The other end of the first connecting link is connected to a second arm in a joint by means of a pin which is attached to a vehicle body. A second connecting link is similarly connected in joints between the first arm and the second arm without crossing the first connecting link. An extension spring is stretched between the end of the first arm and the joint connecting the second connecting link with the second arm. The spring is biased to bring the first arm and with it the hood from the closed position to the open position.
The known hood can be opened by the operator pushing the hood upward, away from the vehicle body. The opening movement of the hood is controlled by the four-bar linkage consisting of the two arms and the two connecting links. It would be desirable to have a hood with hinge of the aforementioned type, which can be manually-operated and which has an automatic locking arrangement which interacts with the opening mechanism at the end of the hood opposite the hinge.